Adjustable yoke.



W. A. GElGER.

ADJUSTABLE YOKE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9.1911.

1,286,277. Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

WI TNESSES: Wb'wmi z ggger ATTOR /EY '25 shoulders on WILLInMe GE QE or cmoA'eo, rL mo'rs, Assrenon Warren: i

0 all whom it may concern: v Q

Belt knownthat I, VVILLIAMA; ene a 'As is well known-,the draw bars nowfin useon railway cars'while of standard form, 215 ariof ditferent's'izes, diieto the fact that the s'izes'of thedrawbarslmve been increased in recent years to better take care of the heavier shocks imposedin. actual. service. The "standt -"20 ,ofjthree sizes, that is, having the buttstheretli'ese' draw bars are, of course, provided with theiisual standard upper and :lower 1'sh'oulde'rs'oh the butts for engagement with e yokes when such; shoulders are provided and all standard draw bars are also provided with aapa'ir .of vertically eX- tending holes adapted to accommodate "rivets or bolts. Some of the standard draw flobars are provided with coupler-key slots whereas many thousands now iniservice are I not so provided.) During recent years, there has been aconstant tendency in the development of drafti rigging art, to provide detachable draw bar and yoke connections and 'while many attempts have been made to solve this problem, so far as I am aware, no lo'nei hasgiever heretofore designed a yoke whichisjadjustable and adapted for attach- '140 ment'to any sta-nda'rd draw. bar regardless of its size and regardless of the presence or absence'of a coupler-key slot.

One ob'ect, of my invention is to provide I a yoke adapted for shouldered engagen'ient 451 with the usual shoulders of any size standard draw bar butt. V

Another object of my invention is to provide: a yoke of; the vertical type which is adapted for adjustment to coiiperatively cngage any size draw bar butt.

Another and more specific object of my invention, is to provide a multiple piece yoke having means permitting adjustment of the parts thereof to tlvaneby accommodate the UNITED STATES Specification of Letters Fatentl draw bars in service are generally lowershoulders 11 and 12.

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ADJUSTABLE Yon-n.

Applicati'on filed me e, 1917. ar no. waste.

yoke for cooperation with draw bars of difi l'ent sizes.

In the drawing forming a part of i3 specification, Figure 1 is aside elevation a draw bar butt and yoke showing my ireprovements in connection therewith, the in- 80 Qncrdotted lines of the draw bar butt representing a smaller size than the butt which is shown in actual engagement with the .yoke. ,tional view, taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical secg- 3 is a rear end ele vatlOIlillYleW of the improved yoke shown in I igsil and 5 are views correspond -1ng, respectively, to Figs. 1 and 2 but illus- .tratinganother embodiment of my iniprovere Inents.v

In said drawing, referring to the structure illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 16 denotes the shank of a standard draw bar having the usual'butt at the rear end thereof 'li said butt being provided with the upper and The improved, yoke, designated generally. by the reference A, is .shown as comprising an upnerimernher 13.and a lower member 14:, the same being 81 preferably counterparts in order to mini mize the cost of production. Each of said parts comprises a horizontally extending arm,- as shown, a vertical eXtensionl-irat the rear end, side wings or walls 16 and 1? at 35 the forward end, and a transversely extending' shoulder or {rib 18. The extensions 15 on the rear of the members l3 1% are disposed as most clearly illustrated in Fig, 3, and each is preferably roughened on its inner face, as indicated at 19, so that when the two parts are drawn into tight n1ent,'as by a bolt 20 and mrt 21, the parts age- are revented from accidental relative vertir i cal movement. Each of the extensions 15 e5 is provided with a diagonally extending slot ders 11 and 12 of the draw bar butt. In order to maintain proper engagement between the shoulders 18 and 11 and 12, each element of the yoke is perforated, as indicated at 23, in line with one of the usual rivet holes provided in the draw bar butt so that a vertically extending elongated bolt 24 may be employed with a nut 25 to thereby hold-the parts in pro er engagement.

The dott'e lines 2626 in Fig; 1 indicate the upper and lower surfaces of a smaller sized draw bar butt, and the references 111 and 112 indicate the correspond ing shoulders of said butt. As will be obvious, by loosening the nut 21 at the rear of the yoke sufiiciently to. permit the rear ends of the members 13 and 14 to slide over each other, the two parts of the yoke 13 and 14 can be drawn closertogether into proper engagement with the smaller sized draw bar butt and held in said position by the bolt and nut 24 25, and by tightening the bolt and nut 20-21.

With the arrangement above described, it is apparent that my improvements are adapted for shouldered engagement with any size shouldered draw bar butt of standard form, whether the same is provided with a coupler-key slot or not, so that theimproved yoke has a wide range of utility; In the construction illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the general arrangement of parts is substantially the same as that illustrated in the other three figures. In this constru'ction, however, the side wings 116 and 117 of the'yoke elements 113 and 114 are provided with enlarged slots 3Q30 of a length corresponding to the usual coupler-key 31 and o a vertical height sufficient to accommodate the full relative vertical movementsof the yoke elements 113 and 114.

of the yoke. extensions 115115 are provided with vertical slots 122 to accommodate the bolt 120. i

This construction is more particularly adapted for standard draw bars having coupler-key slots and when the coupler-keyis used,' an additional engagement is provided between the draw bar and yoke through the coupler-key which engages the side wings At the rear end, the vertical As an additional feature and to eliminate the use'of a vertiral bolt passing through their inner faces with elon ated countersunk grooves 35 to accomm ate the heads of the bolts 34 so that the latter may lie flush with the inner surfaces of the With the arrangement of bolts 34, above described, it is obvious that the two yoke elements can be locked in any-adjusted position by merely tightening the nuts '36.

thereon and the use ofa vertical bolt extending through the draw bar is thereby eliminated.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that the yoke which I have provided is of simple form, may be readily and cheaply manufactured, and is adapted for cooperation with various size draw bars. At the same time, the arrangement of yoke is preferably such that a hollow hood is provided at the forward end thereof to inclose the butt of the draw bar.

I claim:

1. A yoke for railway draft riggings comprising an upper arm and a lower arm, said arms having overlapping extensions at their rear endspmeans for securing said overlapped extensionsin adjusted positions,

yoke.

front end with a shoulder arranged to en-' gage a shoulder of a draw bar butt.

2. A yoke of the vertical type for draft riggings, said yoke comprising two counterpart members each of which is provided with a horizontally extending arm with 'a vertical extension at its rear end and a transverse shoulder at its forward end, and means for adjustably securing said extensions together.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a shouldered draw bar having a vertically-extending opening therethrough, of a yoke comprising an uper and a lower arm, said arms being adustably connected at their rear ends and provided at their forward ends with portions extending over the top and bottom portions of the draw bar butt, said portions being provided with perforations in alinement with said openings in the draw bar, and means penetrating said'alined openings of the draw bar and yoke and adapted to retain the forward endsof the yoke arms in place, the forward ends of the yoke arms being also' provided with shoulders ar ranged to engage the shoulders of the draw bar.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of May, 1917.

WILLIAM A. GEIGER. 

